Apple plans to expand Indian workforce, shift supply chain from China

Apple plans to boost its Indian workforce to 500,000 in 3 years, shifting half of its China-based supply chain, reported Economic Times. With a focus on local value addition, Apple aims to increase domestic value addition from 11-12 percent to 15-18 percent. This move aligns with India’s growing importance as a market and potential R&D hub. Currently, local value addition in India stands at 14 percent, far below China’s 41 percent.

Apple has significantly escalated its presence in India over the past two years, focusing on both manufacturing and retail. While older iPhone models were initially assembled in the country, Apple now manufactures iPhone 15 models there as well. Recent strides in streamlining assembly operations have been fruitful, with reports indicating that Apple assembled iPhones worth $14 billion in India in fiscal year 2024.

The Cupertino-based company has two major manufacturing partners, Foxconn and Pegatron, accounting for 67 percent and 17 percent of assembled iPhones respectively. Additionally, Tat Group, managing Wistron’s plant in Karnataka, contributes the remaining 6 percent. This surge in production means approximately 1 in 7 iPhones assembled worldwide is now done in India. Moneycontrol